Dear All,
Please allow me to vent off a little this morning.
As most of you will already know I have a rare form of cancer - Mantle Cell Lymphoma - for which the prognosis is extremely poor (but there have been some people who have gone a good many years beyond the average). I live in the UK where, not being a person of wealth, I depend heavily on the National Health Service (NHS). To date, the treatment I have received has been first class at the hands of a team of dedicated doctors and nurses. I have no complaints (apart from two idiotic patronising doctors whom I saw in the early days of my consultations - but that's in the past).
As anyone else would do in my situation, one also researches as much as possible for alternative medical procedures - i.e. not wishing to have chemotherapy, which is highly toxic to the body, I wanted to find what else is out there that could help without having to resort to such a dangerous regimen.
I have paid out many hundreds of pounds on homeopathy, vitamins and minerals, herbs, organic and fair trade foods and, most recently, £120.00 consultation fee to a private doctor who offered me nothing that I hadn’t already heard. This morning, in some desperation, because chemotherapy is looking more imminent, I telephoned a well-respected alternative therapy clinic just outside London (I live over 200 miles away in Manchester). The clinic appears to have just what I need and I can be fitted in for a consultation next week for a fee of - £240.00 (the consultation lasts one hour).
Absolutely shocked, I asked what the cost of the treatment would be. For a two week course it amounts to £8,500.00. However, there is no provision to stay over in the clinic so one has to put oneself up in a bed and breakfast hotel. As I am unable to drive myself – and an u naccompanied train journey is out as I can literally be dead on my feet from one moment to the next – I rely on Claire to drive me everywhere, which means she would have to stay over in the B&B also. As you can see, the total cost is highly prohibitive.
Since having this dreadful disease I have realised, through my own research and via the various types of care I’ve already paid for, that to have a serious illness but for which there COULD well be the hope of, at the very least, a remission, one has to be extremely wealthy. In other words, being sick is purely for the rich!
I am absolutely disgusted at how sick people are taken advantage of. We are given hope, only for that hope to be dashed due to exorbitant charges. My beloved Claire, a superintendent chartered physiotherapist, could, if she had a mind to, set up a clinic and charge enormous fees for which the wealthy would pay to be treated. Like me, however, she would rather help ANYONE of ANY means for FREE and she has done this ever since I’ve known her.
I’m not for one moment saying that those who are skilled in a certain field shouldn’t set up a private practise (although I am a staunch supporter of the NHS – because EVERYONE is treated equally) but only that it is immoral to charge beyond a realistic figure. When one is seriously ill one has enough to contemplate without having to try and find monies that, well, are just nigh impossible to find.
I pray with all my heart that I beat this disease and that I can go on to write about the injustices. My heart bleeds for the poorest amongst us, for they have even less hope than I.
The good news is, my illness introduced me to fresh organic foods and I am making a genuine contribution to helping the poor farmers in third-world countries by purchasing fair-trade goods. I have also made superb, long-lasting friends here. THAT, is absolutely priceless!
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Ian